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Hi. We are a design/style LA based company specializing in mixing eclectic styles on moderate budgets. Also we have a strange amount of fun blogging about all our design and style adventures. Right now I’m happy to say that I’m Target’s home spokesperson, bringing accessible/stylish design to the masses.

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Hey there – Ginny again! – with part two of our office project reveal for our Mulholland Dr. couple. Yesterday, I talked about how we decorated her office and today we’ve got the full reveal of his office.

Much like the brief from his wife, the client really wanted the room to be cooler, look like it belongs in their mid-century home and feel layered. He really disliked the rug, drapery and office chair and was pretty much open to anything. He wanted to keep the and the piano (he’s a musician) but didn’t want to have the guitars on the wall anymore. This was a great blank slate for us to work with.

We really wanted to make this into a cool, moody den without going too ‘Man Cave’. So we started to pull together some moodboards to show him what we were thinking. He didn’t need much convincing on his space and really liked everything we suggested so next steps were to just get on with it.

And here it is. One of the first things we hunted down for this room is the rug. We’d seen it on an inspiration image and fell in love with it. It feels masculine and graphic, playful yet sophisticated. I’m personally not drawn to brown but there is something special about (to me at least). Much like the rest of the rooms in the house, one wall had the cream grasscloth wallpaper on it. We convinced him to get that removed and paint that whole room out in from Benjamin Moore. We love how dark and rich the colour feels in here. We went tone-on-tone with the drapery and introduced a velvet texture which feels super hy in here. These guys are the vintage velvet in slate blue from .

We made this corner into more of a reading nook using his Eames chair and ottoman. He already had the lamp, so we added ; a mix of black metal and wood which sits great against the dark backdrop.

We brought in a mix of different pottery for the shelves and combined that with his music equipment and books.

We did another pillow in here in a more neutral tone.

We always try to add pieces from local and/or handmade and the cute brown cacti planter is by Melanie’s boyfriend .

We worked with to custom make the live edge desk. The wood is walnut and has an organic cut-out in the middle for where he sits. We designed a simple leg base and had it finished in brass. We’re doing a desk chair round-up soon because it’s really tricky to find decent looking ones that aren’t those crazy ergonomic ones. from Pottery Barn ain’t cheap, but in the tan leather it’s rather good looking and comfy and works great with the concept.

We dressed up the desk with some black, brass and wood accessories and the from Rejuvenation.

You can appreciate here how the desk has the natural curves from the cut wood.

The back wall was a large expanse of space, so – together with and – we curated a gallery wall with a mix of photographs and prints of sketches and paintings. We kept all the prints monochromatic but then mixed up the finish and thickness of the frames so that it felt more eclectic. We reupholstered the piano stool in a mid-century woven fabric which has the same colour tones as the rug. We added the brass standing lamp last minute, and it really pulls that corner together and gives it some three-dimensional height.

So, there you have it. Do you think it adds a good amount of cool and moody to the room?

Here are some fun side x sides of the before and after and the get the look is below:

James Frey lied about whether his book was fiction or non-fiction. Ayn Rand popularized a toxic philosophy that millions of people have embraced, that places self interest above all else, almost making it a moral imperative. the idea being…if I’m smart and work hard, I alone should reap the benefits of this. She brainwashed people with the notion that Capitalism and altruism are incompatible. It clearly has shaped politics and society in this country, which is why we find ourselves in a place where millions of people believe healthcare is a privilege not a social good, and why college costs what it does. Anyone that would proudly display her books as part of a carefully staged vignette is not someone I care to know.

I love this. I think you did a great job. I especially like the tone on tone drapes with the wall color. And I’m very much looking forward to the round up on cool office chairs because we are getting ready to do a few upgrades to our office soon.

Hey! The guitars are now in the closet that you don’t see from the photos. He specifically didn’t want them up on show anymore despite us really really wanting to feature them. Sometimes you have to go with the request of the client and this time we did. I hope that helps xXx

Aesthetically it looks loads nicer, buuut… where’s the storage now? Where did the guitars go? And is he missing his speakers on his desk?… it doesn’t look like there is any way to get power to that desk now…

Is the TV still above the piano?

Love the tone on tone curtains and wall colour, and I am pleasantly surprised by how good the blueish walls look with the black Eames lounger… not a colour combination I would have thought of 🙂

I also would be extremely annoyed to not have access to a power outlet to charge stuff when working at my desk. I agree that the floating desk looks nice but seems highly unfunctional for a working office…

I had the EXACT same question. He no longer has a computer (or any of the power cords that go along with it…). The room IS beautiful, but seems to be unattainable because you can’t use any of the things that you would typically use in an office….

Hey! There’s a large double closet in the room which we didn’t shoot. He uses that for storage now. There is power from the corner of the room behind where the tree is. We did hide it for the photos though to make them feel cleaner. The TV is for sure still above the piano. Hope that helps, thanks for your comment xXx

Thank you for taking the time to reply 🙂
I know getting beautiful pictures vs. getting a realistic picture of the practicalities is not always easy … and I like to see both!
A photo of the closet would have been interesting. (I had a feeling there was a corner of the room you didn’t show us!)
Thanks for sharing!

This room is really beautiful, but I’m a little disappointed in these last two office posts. Where is all of his sound equipment? Do neither of them have a printer or any cords? Where do they keep their files? Is there a glare on the computer screens from the windows? The biggest challenge for me with home offices is storage and all of the very functional things that need to be in the room. It would be great to see a home office that addresses typical home office concerns.

The wife’s office had a storage credenza. It sounds like they are an actress and a musician, so maybe they don’t have the same filing needs as other home offices? (Although I assume they still need storage for bills, taxes, etc….) Let’s be honest, offices will look different styled for photos vs. real life, but I too would appreciate some real-life solutions.

This room is lovely but I also had the same thoughts as others about power cords to the desk lamp and computer. Like Erica says, I understand the difference between styled for photos vs. real life, but I also think design shouldn’t sacrifice practicality.

My house isn’t as polished as Emily and Ginny’s amazing style, of course, but I’m really happy with how my two-person home office area turned out because it looks clean while still offering cords, docking stations, monitors, etc.

Hey guys! They really didn’t have a lot of “office stuff” that needed hiding away. She has the large credenza in her office that hides all their media equipment for the house as well as a printer. He has a large double closet for all this equipment when he’s not using it. I think next time we’ll shoot even a plain shot of things like that so it gives you guys more context. They also didn’t really want it too feel like a typical office, more so cute rooms for them to work and hang out in. Hope this helps! xXx

We had this same problem. Solution: renovate your basement and build a big walk-in closet for all the guitars. (Mine had SEVENTEEN at last count.) Hang a few on the wall. Perhaps not the cheapest or easiest solution, but it’s the only one that worked for us.

(I don’t mean to suggest that we renovated the basement JUST for guitar storage, but it was a definite perk!)

Where did all of his guitars go? I love the idea of hanging them as art. These guitar hooks from one forty three are beautiful. Just an idea for others looking for ways to display guitars in their home.

Thank you! He already had the piano bench and it was vintage mid-century. Not sure where he got it from but it did feel more so like a normal bench than one that was specific to the piano. Maybe check heights but you could totally just use a vintage bench xXx

I really love this transformation! Looks cozy and I really like the dark blue (despite not really liking the colour blue). The brass and wood look great against the dark background.

I have 2 of those desk chairs and I really like them (Though I scored mine brand new with the tags on at an auction for $40 each). I also have an original Herman Miller executive soft pad chair (which is incredibly comfortable) and the chairs from Pottery Barn are a good alternative.

It looks lovely. I like the color. Not a fan of the chair because the sitting position is too slouched [bad for the back] and it doesn’t allow enough changing of position. It does look pretty. I also like the tone-on-tone walls and drapes. Someday though, some designer is going to do an office that is actually functional and ergonomic so I can get ideas for a space when things like speakers, a large monitor [I am a programmer and while I can work on a laptop, my eyes prefer a large screen], external hard drive for backups, router, printer/scanner, etc. Today is not that day.

I LOVE this makeover! I never knew I needed a moody room in my life but now I want one. I second some of the other commenters – I’d love a post about how to style a home office so it looks great but is also functional (computer cords, storage, etc).

So glad you did a close-up of the desk surface! That wood is gorgeous! While mid-century is not my jam, I love the dark blue walls and tone on tone velvet draperies. And the Pottery Barn desk chair. I’m a sucker for anything Pottery Barn and have to be careful to have my apartment not look like a Pottery Barn showroom

Absolutely beautiful. I wonder though, at that price for a chair, it does make a lot more sense to go ergonomic, it is so much better for health and wellness and there are some gorgeous options out there. Something from Herman Miller for example, or perhaps Knoll. For another 100-300, he could have a chair that looks identical and can be COM that is also better on the body.

It’s comfortable but it’s firm. I have an original Herman Miller executive soft pad chair which the Nash chair is based on and the HM hands down wins for comfort but the Nash is a really nice alternative

Oof, this is dreamy! I LOVE the paint color and the desk. This mirrors our office a bit, we both have laptops, and just pull the power cord when we need it. And storage stuff is in the closet along with our wireless printer. I do wish there was some more personal prints in the gallery wall – he had some pretty cool prints before, assuming they went elsewhere.

I just have to tell you; the market theatre print? I took a look at it on the website and it the sign looked so familiar. I followed a hunch, and sure enough, that’s the Pike Place Market Theatre in Seattle. I did a show there ten years ago!!! Such a small world. (Love the design of this room, by the way…)

This office is super gorgeous. It’s much more masculine than I would ever do myself, but it looks very cool and high end. I would really love to see a more pulled back photo of the room.

Like the other commenters, I am interested in hearing what the client did with his guitars and computer speakers. You said he didn’t want them hanging on the wall anymore, but I assume they had to go somewhere.

We kept it super simple, just a vase on one side with a stack of books on the other with a basket on top with remotes in. Didn’t want to pile a bunch of stuff on there and risk damaging it. Ack my bad we should have got a shot of that… next time! xxx

I love this room and all of your work but this is the first time I’ve felt like in making the visual improvement (and it is a huge improvement to look at!) you sort of removed the soul. The original music posters, movie posters, and instruments showed off the personality of the owner. These prints, while lovely, seem to have no tie to the owner except that the aesthetics work with the room. And like everyone else has said, how is this room practical for a musician? Where is room to play? Where are the cords for the computer that will likely be needed for sound mixing and songwriting?

That’s sad to hear. The client really didn’t want it to scream “i’m a musician” and wanted a fresh change to the room. The guitars now live in a closet in the room (we did’t shoot that angle but a good note for next time we do shoot) Cords were all hidden for the sake of they styled out shot. But maybe next time we’ll do real vs styled. Sometimes tricky when we only have a certain amount of time to shoot – and we’d all prefer to get the beauties 🙂 Hope that helps xXx

Ginny, I do think that the room is beautiful, and magazine-ready. I guess I just don’t understand why a reveal can’t be presented that is photogenic AND functional. I feel like offices such as these really straddle the line between designing and decorating. Our daily lives are inundated by technology and cords, so why not design and photograph a room that shows how you crafted a solution that is beautiful, yet functional for your client in terms of cord management? Perhaps your client is happy with the final outcome, but when the camera’s aren’t flashing, how does this work for them?

Don’t get me wrong, I love the blog, and I love the EHD aesthetic. You guys are amazing at selecting FF&E, but sometimes the solutions seem incomplete for the sake of a styled shoot. Design is in the details. I guess I’m just thirsty for more. Love you guys though. 🙂

P.S. Even a sponsored post on cord management kits, surge protectors, extension cords, etc.
(and how you incorporate them into a design) would be super advantageous for your blog and your brand. Readers like myself would really appreciate it, and therefore pin and share it like crazy.

WOW – you and your team did an amazing job! I also am looking forward to the office chair roundup. My husband likes to file and store paperwork, so the only thing I would need to add to his office was a super cool file cabinet. Thanks again!

I think it’s disrespectful to leave your readers’ comments unanswered, especially if they’re asking questions on a similar topic. There’s obviously a subject here that was not addressed by the design nor the blog post, and it wouldn’t hurt to leave a little comment from the designer/blogger to help us understand how the room functions. Otherwise, this is really nothing but a post for magazine/editorial and not ‘real life, practical.’ Don’t get me wrong, the design is awesome! Love the paint and the vignette by the Eames chair, but — where did the table lamp cable go? Where are printers? Where are the guitars? Where is real life? 🙂

Hey, I just want to wade in and say, I really appreciate that you share your work on this blog and LOVE it when you answer questions… but totally understand that it won’t be your #1 priority 🙂 … after all we are not paying clients 🙂

I would love to see your design ideas for a bookshelf which has to hold more than a dozen books (which also aren’t bigger design books and don’t have light spines). Any chance that might happen some day?

This looks great! Is it possible to get the sources of the inspiration images? Thank you!

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Hello!

Emily is a stylist, author and T.V. host with a strong commitment to vintage inspired approachable home style for every single person. Perfection is boring; Let’s get weird. learn more

Interior Design Blog by Youxi988

I started this interior design blog in 2010 as a journal of my style and home projects with the belief that design should be approachable, informational and accessible no matter what budget.

As a home style expert who has a strong commitment to peeling back the intimidating layers of the world of home decor, and showing how every person can have a beautiful home that represents their personality, no matter what the budget.

After styling for magazines and catalogues for years, I started my own interior design blog, won HGTV Design Star, and have gone on to host my own hit TV show Secrets from a Stylist, Author the book STYLED, and create the design firm Youxi988 Design.

My motto has always been to write and publish on my blog what I personally want to read about.